Wednesday, October 30, 2013

We all have favorite quilts, so much so that sometimes it is hard to pick out which one is our favorite. How many of you have a quilt you made that you don't like? Was it the pattern, the fabric, the time in your life that made you not like it? I do not like this quilt very much at all. It is called Snowbound and I made it in 1994. It was a popular pattern at the time.

Johnson, Dylan, Colin and Caitlin immortalized in fabric!

I did personalized it with my 4 children. Poor Caitlin she is all wrinkled.

I remember thinking how fun and fast this would be to make....not so. All of the applique is fused and there is not one stitch to hold any of it down. This was also during my country phase......

So my questions to you are:

Do you have a quilt you made that you don't like? Would you be willing to share it? {This only counts as 1 question}

My second question is.....When you are looking up a business, like a phone number or ad, where do you look? The phone book, the internet etc? There was a long discussion about this and inquiring minds want to know.

I will pick the winner at random next Wednesday, November 6. You will win a box of scraps of your choosing..... mixed, pink, red, blue or green. I don't have enough of other colors to fill a good size box. I promise they will all be good scraps, no dogs. I will not promise to weed out all the small ones though..

Answer the questions and let me know your color choice. Good luck!
Please be sure that I have your email address or I will not be able contact you.

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

I finally got back to making some more of my Farmer's Wife blocks. This one looks rectangular because of the fabric, but it is 6 1/2 x 6 1/2.

This one was pretty easy. I did over size the pieces and cut them down.

This one looks really crazy. The off grain print makes it look off kilter, I may redo this one. Believe it or not it is square.

and then there is this orphan.....what was I thinking? It will be remade, it is pretty bad. I blame it on a week of not sewing and being a little rusty.

I love this fabric and got it while I was away, just my colors!

My sewing room is a disaster. I am contemplating moving it up stairs to some empty bedrooms. The thought of moving it all is holding me back, but it would be a great opportunity to clean out and re-organize to see just exactly what I have and what I don't need. Where do you sew and what is more important, location or more room? I don't have kids at home any more so that is not an issue. We have a daylight basement room {where I am now} that is finished but it is too small. If I move upstairs I can take over 2 rooms that adjoin and it would be a lot easier to manage and the light is much better. I still leaves me with 2 guest bedrooms but will I like being upstairs? I am open to your suggestions and what works for you.

Monday, October 28, 2013

Last week I joined a newly formed book club with my sister in law Colleen and some very nice women. I was picked to come up with our first book. This was recommended by my friend Judie from her book club.
So far I am finding it interesting and think it will lead to a really good discussion in our group. Has anyone else read this?
Kelly

Friday, October 25, 2013

Ever since I got back from North Carolina I am having a hard time getting anything done. I unpack right away, I am tired of living out of a suitcase and want my stuff easily accessible once again! I still don't have the binding sewn down on this quilt, hence the clips running all around it.

It started with me cutting the binding all wrong,. Yes I chopped them off so I could not sew them together. Urrgh!

The wings on the bird are from the same piece of fabric and I like the look.

The leaves don't look so blue in real life, I love the stripes!

These started out as lolly pop type flowers. When it was up on the design wall they looked like giant red blobs. I took some scissors and free hand cut them so they would look a little bit more homey.

My husband said their house is mostly red and blue! I think this will work.

I was feeling a little wifey today so I made Bob his favorite cookies, oatmeal raisin. This will make him happy when he walks through the door.

How is this for cute? I got some plans for it, now I just need to kick myself into gear!

Statistics on the bird quilt:

Background is quilted with random straight lines first. I used Aurifil and set my Bernina on 4 stitch length using my walking foot.

The stems and leaves were fused down next and quilted using a free motion foot.

The bird and then the flowers were fused down last and quilted using a free motion foot.

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

For the past 6 days my husband and I have been in North Carolina to help my mother in law pack, purge and donate as she moves into a new smaller place.

This is the view from the previous picture. While we were there she had 5 trees cut down so the view is even better now.

The house is a little too big for her now and she has decided to downsize. That window to the left also looks out at the gorgeous view. She is a little tired from all the work. As you can see she is not afraid of color! That day she actually matched the room!

She is also an art collector and has some very beautiful pieces. I am hoping they all fit in her new place.

Here we are on the 10 hour ride home. There are no direct flights to Asheville so driving is sometimes faster than flying! Plus my husband says they won't let him fly the plane.....he likes his control.

just to tickle your funny bone.
It is good to be home and I am dying to sew! 6 days is way too long to be away from my sewing machine. I will finish up that last feed sack and get it posted ASAP! Thank you for all the wonderful comments on both.

Monday, October 14, 2013

We are invited to an Open House later this month. The people are customers of my husband and I wanted to make a small little gift for them.

Their home was built in the 1800's and they like that time period as well. I had this feed sack laying around and thought this might make a good background. Notice the date on the sack. I do believe that is how old the company is, not the sack.

I cut it in half and that is how the size of the wall hanging was determined. I do have a use for the other half.

I started out using a much brighter and more modern color scheme and it just didn't work. All the pieces were cut out, it was tempting to just go with it. Instead of just plowing ahead I re-thought my
colors to feel a little more traditional.

I like how the petals fade in and out. It feels older to me and reflects the feeling and age of the feed sack.

I did very simple quilting in the shapes, again being true to the background fabric.

The "1842" shows up and adds a nice unexpected touch.

The text showing through was planned and I am happy with it.

There was only half a chicken on the sack that I think adds more interest than if there had been a whole chicken.
Overall I had a lot of fun making this quilt. Sometimes it is just plain old fun to sit down and sew with no real plan. Total time to make was about 4 hours.
The other half will also be made for a customer of my husband who is having a party as well. The interesting part about both of the wives is that they are artists. The kind that paint beautiful pictures in water colors......I mean really awesome pieces. I am excited for them to see something done in another medium.
In the next week or so I will start on the other wall hanging. Both of the ladies are friends so it will be similar but different. I hope I have just as much fun!

Monday, October 7, 2013

This weekend I saw my 2 grandsons, Griffin and Elliot and realized I needed to get my Halloween stuff out. I have had this pumpkin bucket for quite a while and filled it with fake bittersweet {the real stuff is a mess} and I picked the dead black eyed susans to add a little spookiness.

I only decorate with a few things. When my children were little we went all out. Now I would rather be sewing!

This is my favorite decoration that the grandchildren and I made last year. They did such a good job!

I did get 2 more Farmer's Wife blocks sewn together. As you can see I made a mistake and used the wrong pink polka dot print. I am not changing it, we will call it "charming"......

I like the color combination of this blue and red together.

I am almost finished getting the HST top together. Don't you love the little lobsters? This was one of the fabrics in a fabric swap.

These are some of my favorite blocks. This blue dot is from a vintage apron. I love how it fades in and out.

You just got to love those glasses.

Another vintage fabric with some very pale aqua dots. All my blocks are sewn in rows so I am almost there.

Saturday night we went to an Oktoberfest in Reading with our neighbors. They even dressed the part!